


I'm Gonna Be

by SherlockWolf



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 500 miles, M/M, Songfic, The Proclaimers, if you listen to this with stucky you will cry, sleeping at last
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 16:03:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4442195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockWolf/pseuds/SherlockWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stucky songfic to Sleeping At Last cover of I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Gonna Be

_When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you._

~

    One of Steve’s favourite things to wake up to in the mornings was Bucky’s nose inches away from his own. Sometimes, Steve would wake before Bucky. On those mornings, he’d lie in bed just watching Buck sleep until he woke of his own accord. Other times, Bucky would wake up before Steve. On those mornings, Steve would find a pair of stormy gray eyes watching _him_ sleep. There was nothing Steve loved more. Except Bucky.

~  
_And when I go out, yeah I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you._

~

    Steve left the apartment only for three reasons. The first, to get exercise. The second, to go grocery shopping when it was needed. The third, to accompany Bucky whenever he went somewhere that wasn’t work. That could be anything from the boardwalk carnival to a dance hall to yet another of Howard Stark’s invention presentations. As long as he was with his best friend, it didn’t matter to Steve where they went.  
~  
_And when I come home, yeah I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's coming home to you._

~

    While Bucky was at war, he had one line of thought that kept him motivated to survive the horror.

_When I get home, Stevie will be there, Stevie will be safe, Stevie will smile, Stevie will hold me, and I won’t be here._

    Even when he’s captured by Nazi scientists, he repeated those words to himself. Steve was his only comfort through the torture.

~  
_And when I'm dreamin', well I know I'm gonna dream  
I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you._

~  
    Bucky dreamed of his life at home in Brooklyn with Steve. He dreamed of days and nights full of dancing, laughter, music, and love. All with Steve. Not a single other human being intruded on his dreams of being with his best friend.

    When he was awake, being tortured by Zola and his assistants, Bucky withdrew into his mind. There he could be safe with Stevie. He missed the sound of his voice, and would imagine how fired up and furious Steve would be at these people who were causing Bucky harm. He missed Steve’s small body, and it cheered him up to think of how Steve would try to take on each of these scientists single-handedly. All for him.

    When Bucky hurt too much to daydream, he simply wished he’d never gone to war.

~  
_But I would walk 500 miles_  
And I would walk 500 more  
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles  
To fall down at your door

~  
    Nothing could have convinced Steve that the members of the 107th were dead. He refused to accept that _Bucky_ was dead. They were behind enemy lines, but that didn’t sway Steve. He needed to bring Bucky home, and no one was going to stop him.

    Luckily, his stubbornness paid off: the 107th was indeed alive. After freeing the jailed soldiers, Steve stumbled upon Bucky who was strapped to a metal table, halfway out of his mind. Steve nearly collapsed from relief when Bucky stuttered out his name; it was proof that Bucky was going to be okay. He snapped the partially delirious Bucky from his restraints and helped him walk until he was steady on his own two feet.

    When they were separated by fire, Steve thought it was the end. He was proud that his last act had been saving his best friend—and lover. But it was the end…

    …only for a second. The cracking of Bucky’s voice as he screamed, _“No not without you!”_ gave Steve the final burst of courage he needed to launch himself across the gap, praying that he wouldn’t die. Somehow he made it. Bucky helped him over the railing, then they were running again, but this time they knew they were finally safe.

~  
_When I'm workin', yeah I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's workin' hard for you._

~

    One of Steve fondest memories was an instance when Bucky saved his life during one of their fights with the Howling Commandos. He’d been distracted by something, and an enemy had just been about to stab him in the back when Bucky had fired a shot that knocked the man into the snow. Steve had heard the enemy man fall, and turned to see that he was shot. Knowing that Bucky was their sniper, he waved in a general direction of the shot.

    It was something Steve remembered because it reminded him that Bucky always had his back. From when his immune system was pathetic to when he had cells that didn’t take no for an answer, Bucky was constantly watching out for him. It made Steve feel loved and it made him feel human. Others thought he was invincible, but Bucky knew better, and Steve appreciated that more than he let on.

~  
_And when the money comes in for the work I do  
I'll pass along every cent of it to you._

~

    When they lived in Brooklyn, the first thing Bucky did when he received his pay from the docks was buy Steve a treat. Sometimes he would go down to the nearby bakery and get them each a small ration of chocolate. Other times he would buy Steve a new drawing pencil, or a small canvas, or some coloured pencils. And when it was his birthday or Christmas, Bucky always bought him a new sketch book.

    When they were at war, Bucky had his money saved to two separate accounts. A percentage of it went to his own personal savings. The rest of it went to an account he had set up as a gift for Steve many, many years ago. It was the account he was planning to use when they returned from war and went back to living in Brooklyn. He wanted to take Steve to dinner, a movie, and the carnival one last time before suggesting the idea he’d had before the 107th was captured by Zola: that they move.

    Bucky thought it would be fun to change up their scenery, and if they couldn’t afford an actual house by the end of the war, he could easily settle for a new apartment. Maybe one that had a larger kitchen and a balcony so that they would have an easier time watching the fireworks on Steve’s birthday.  
~  
_And when I'm lonely, well I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you._

~

    The world was bleak without Bucky in it. Little things in his everyday life would remind Steve of Bucky, and every time that happened he could feel a new tear in his heart.

    Peggy helped him through the first few months, and with her compassion, Steve was eventually able to spend days at a time distracted enough not to think about Bucky.

    But the hole in his chest never went away.

~  
_And if I grow old, well I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you._

~

    Waking up in the 21st century was not what Steve could have ever wished for, nor imagined. But he adjusted to and accepted the card fate had dealt him. The future was far more comfortable than the 30’s, and Steve had far more wealth than he knew what to do with because of military back-pay.

    He had a nice apartment in Brooklyn, one with a modern kitchen, new furniture, and a balcony he could sit on and watch the fireworks for the 4th on. He had an art easel with plenty of painting and drawing supplies. He had a record player-radio-tape player that one of his new friends, Clinton, had insisted he buy. He had plenty of old records from his favourite bands of his time. He never ran out of food, water, or electricity. The Smithsonian museum had also returned to him whatever possessions he’d wanted, and so he had all of his old art supplies and sketchbooks. He’d let them keep everything else; he didn’t need the completed canvases he’d failed to sell or the pajamas that would no longer fit him.

    The future held many surprises. He was able to see Peggy every now and then, and he met her children. They were beautiful, and Steve hadn’t felt happier since the 30’s when he was introduced to them. He had a job, which he neither asked for nor rejected. Leading the Avengers was something Steve had no issue with, because it gave him the feeling of _doing something_ that he’d craved before he became Captain America. He even made a few close and trusted friends through the work: Natalia Romanova, the Black Widow, and Sam Wilson, the Falcon.

    The only thing he was missing in the future was Bucky.  
~  
_But I would walk 500 miles_  
And I would walk 500 more  
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles  
To fall down at your door  
_~_

    After leaving Captain America on the beach to be rescued, the Winter Soldier did not return to his handlers. Instead, he stole some civilian’s clothes off of a clothesline and hid himself from the world in plain sight. He walked throughout New York City, re-familiarizing himself with the places that were slowly trickling into his mind as memories. There were various cafés, clothes shops, bakeries, art stores, boardwalks, parks. All places he had been, once upon a time, with the man who had been his mission.

    After months of walking and discovering who he was, James Buchanan Barnes decided that it was time to go home.  
~  
_When I wake up, well I hope I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's waking up to you._

~

    During his months of searching for Bucky, Steve woke every morning feeling watched. He no longer lived in his apartment; Fury and Agent Hill had insisted that he move into Avengers tower after S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised. So, Steve found it highly suspicious that he felt watched. It should be impossible for anyone to climb as high up the tower as his bedroom window, and there was no way an intruder could get into the tower without being caught.

    After a month of it, Steve adjusted. When he woke up, the feeling of eyes having just been on him reminded him of how it used to feel to have Bucky’s eyes watching him while he slept. It became comforting to Steve, but it also made him miss Bucky that much more.

~  
_And when I'm dreamin', well I know I'm gonna dream  
I'm gonna dream about the time I had with you._

~

    In the wee hours of one morning, Steve woke from yet another nightmare of watching Bucky die. His nightmares had changed from the ones he’d had in the past. Then, it had just been Steve reliving losing his best friend. Now, however, he dreamed of all sorts of ways Bucky had died. He would dream that Bucky had been dragged by Nazis back to Zola, who had torn him apart much like Frankenstein had his monster. He would dream that Bucky, as the Winter Soldier, went on a mission that resulted in his death. That night, he had dreamed that the Winter Soldier had come to his old apartment as a ghost and had haunted Steve, berating him for not saving him from falling off the train.

    Steve shot up straight in his bed after Bucky’s ghost had begun screaming at him, the images clearing from his mind as he blinked to gather in his surroundings. He was panting and his heart was racing. He couldn’t remember the words Bucky had said, but the feeling of guilt sat heavy in his gut.

    As his room came into view, his eyes focused on a dark figure that was seated next to him, on the edge of his bed. Steve stared at the person for a solid minute as he debated whether or not he was imaging them. When the person adjusted slightly, Steve was convinced they were real.

“Who-?” He began to ask, only to be cut off by a metal finger pressing against his lips.

Steve’s throat went dangerously dry. Words became unnecessary: he knew who this was.

    Bucky’s hand slipped away, but Steve grabbed it in his own and held it tight in both of his hands. He was determined not to let Bucky leave.

    Bucky seemed to realize this from the gesture, and he stilled slightly before relaxing, the clink of the metal plating of his arm loud in the room as his muscles controlling it lost their tension. He placed his flesh hand on top of Steve’s, and squeezed a little.

“Stevie.”

    The crack in his voice was all Steve needed to know: _Bucky_ was here. He remembered. The Winter Soldier was gone.

    Relief washed through every cell in Steve’s body, and he reached to pull Bucky to him. He melted into Steve’s arms, shuffling so that he was curled to Steve’s side with his head on his shoulder. They kept their hands woven together as they began to catch up on decades of separation.

    Steve had never been more thankful for the future.

_end_

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a fanvid someone made which is perfect and was the inspiration for this fic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujlk0MAC_a4


End file.
